Beat Me If You Can

A few weeks ago, Tommy Robredo made an emotional return to the tour by winning his 10th clay court title in Casablanca. The result announced the Spaniard as a possible outsider at the upcoming Roland Garros, though few actually fancied his chances of making a big impression. A week into the tournament and, to the surprise of many, Robredo is still standing. It took some battling, but after four dramatic encounters, the old fox managed to equal his best showing in Paris, reaching the quarterfinals for the fifth time. 

The Spaniard can be crowned the hero of this year's Open, coming back from two sets down in three successive matches to reach this stage. However, the toughest test came in the third round, when his opponent, rejuvenated Gael Monfils, surrendered four match points. It looked like a pretty straightforward victory for Gael, but in true Monfils style, the Frenchman let slip a huge opportunity while serving for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set.

Facing Nicolas Almagro in the fourth round, Tommy had already two five-set battles under his belt, against Dutch Igor Sjisling, respectively Monfils. At 6-7,3-6,1-4 down, Almagro looked poised to record his sixth win over his compatriot. Nonetheless, as he had done all week, Robredo refused to give up. He fought his way back into the match, pressing Almagro to lose control of the dispute. The 31-year-old Spaniard became the first man since Henri Cochet to come back from two sets down for three successive matches in a Grand Slam. Cochet achieved the feat at Wimbledon in 1927.

"I played a player who is incredible on clay," said Robredo. "I'm not thinking about history. History is this match I played today. It's not the score that counts. Nothing more than that. He was 4-1 up [in the third set]. Maybe he had a little bit of doubt, though, in that moment. Then I just pushed hard and I won the third. And then I was just dreaming and dreaming to try to do it again, and I did it."

"I think that being in the quarter-finals again, it's amazing, and also with three comebacks the way I did," he concluded. "I just need to enjoy it because I think that in tennis, we need to enjoy it when we do great things and keep focused. Because if it's possible, why not? [I could be] one time in the semi-finals here."
Next up for the ferocious Robredo is another compatriot, the always dangerous David Ferrer. The challenge is huge once more, Ferrer holding a 6-2 head-to-head record against him. Will Tommy defy the odds once more?

Emotional Robredo pulled off another miraculous recovery, coming back from two sets down to stun compatriot Nicolas Almagro to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the fifth time.

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The Czech A-Teams

Although the Czech Republic has given so many great tennis champions in previous years, recently the country failed to produced the same amount of talent. Martina Navratilova, Iva Lendl,  Hana Mandlikova or Jana Novotna are all legends of the game, but after their retirement, their place was hard to fill.

However with Kvitova's stunning triumph at Wimbledon and Berdych's sudden glimpses of magic, the nation finally got something to cheer about. The duo showed their class in the beginning of the season, teaming up to win the mixed-doubles event in Perth. They were imperious in winning the Hopman Cup, disposing of the Frenchmen Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet in the final.

The successes kept on coming for the Czech, as Kvitova and co. successfully defended their Fed Cup title. It was Safarova though who clinched the final victory over Serbia, as she defeated both former number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, to bring in two vital points. 

Inspired by their female counterparts performance, the Czech squad lead by Berdych was determined to end Spain's reign in the Davis Cup and collect the country's first trophy as an independent nation. To help their cause, Corretja's team was deprived of its main superstar, Nadal continuing to be sidelined by the knee injury that forced him to miss the second half of the season. However, with Ferrer in hot form and Almagro as the supporting actor, the Spaniards were not to be dismissed easily.

Day 1 saw the two nations tied at 1-1, with Berdych beating Almagro in a five set thriller, while Ferrer cruised passed Stepanek. The doubles match proved vital in determining the winner. Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez were starting as hot favourites having just claimed the ATP World Tour Championships in London, but old fox Stepanek was yet to say his last word. He and Berdych produced a superb performance to recover from the loss of the opening set to stun the Spaniards 3-6,7-5,7-5,6-3. Stepanek was top notch on Sunday too, scoring the decisive point with a four set victory over Nicolas Almagro.

With Berdych losing in straight sets to Ferrer it was up to Radek to clinch the win and his older compatriot did not waste the opportunity. "I was dreaming about it my whole life and now we're standing here as Davis Cup champions, it's amazing," Stepanek said. "I had a lot of chances in the second set. I was playing very aggressive today; I wanted to be the one who was more active. Even though I lost the third set, I had no doubt about my tactics. I came on the court with a mindset that I had to stay calm, hungry and concentrated. That's what I did tremendously well today."

Having won all the team trophies in 2012, the Czech Republic has established itself as the dominant force in the world.

Radek Stepanek, Tomas Berdych, Ivo Minar and Lukas Rosol respectively, won Czech Republic's first Davis Cup trophy since the country's independence. They beat Spain 3-2 in front of a magnified crowd in Prague.

Earlier this month, Lucie Safarova, Petra Kvitova and doubles specialists, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, won the Fed Cup final against Serbia. Former world number 1s, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, were unable to cope with an inspired Safarova, who brought in two decisive points. 

At the start of the season, Petra Kvitova teamed up with Tomas Berdych to win the Hopman Cup in a final against Marion Bartoli and Richard Gasquet of France.

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